Teen recovering in ICU after attempting ‘Kiki Challenge’

IOWA CITY, Iowa - An Iowa teen landed in the intensive care unit after attempting a viral dance trend, and says all parents and teens need to hear her story.

Anna Worden just graduated from Pleasant Valley this past year. She's been dancing since she was three-years-old. But after her accident, she had to be airlifted to Iowa City for emergency treatment, according to WQAD.

"For us to get to this point you see today has been a long road. It's hard on all of us," says Anna's dad, Mike Worden, as his daughter attempts to walk a few steps around her hospital room.

This is not where Anna pictured she'd end up simply because of what happened one night she was driving around town with friends.

Let's go back to Monday, July 23, 2018, to Bettendorf.

"We were over by the roundabout, and I thought it would be a fun idea to do the Kiki Challenge," explains Anna.

Anna's been dancing since she was little, so she wanted to try out the newest dance fad going viral online called the "Kiki Challenge."

Thousands of fans worldwide have been posting videos of themselves jumping out of moving cars dancing to a Drake song. The dance challenge started in late June when a social media star posted a choreographed video and told people to learn the moves.

"I tried, and the last thing I remember was opening the door. So apparently I got out and tripped and fell and hit my head," says Anna.

Still unconscious, Anna was rushed to the hospital where she was airlifted to Iowa City.

"I had five minutes to give her a kiss and not know what was going to happen. I will always remember that," says Mike Worden.

Anna had a fracture in her skull, blood clots in her ear and bleeding in her brain.

"When we got here and I finally gained consciousness in the ICU, that's when it hit me like, 'Wow, I'm actually in the University of Iowa hospitals because I tried to do some little challenge everyone's doing now, and I'm the one that got majorly hurt,'" says Anna.

The girl who was graceful on her feet is now re-learning to walk.

She also has a lesson to teach.

"Be more careful about the challenges and fads that are going around. It may seem fun, and it may seem easy, but at the same too, they could be so dangerous."

Anna is hoping to be discharged from the hospital soon. When she goes back home to Bettendorf, the road to recovery is still far from over. She will be doing outpatient physical therapy closer to home.